GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Not bad for someone who had not pitched in a game in more than two weeks.
Freshman right-hander Casan Evans got the 10-6 win against Arkansas-Little Rock Monday night in the NCAA Regional championship game in front of 11,656 crazed LSU fans at Alex Box Stadium. But he should have also earned the save – of LSU’s season. The Tigers (46-15) advance to host the best-of-three Super Regional against West Virginia (44-14) with the first game at 1 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.
The Tigers were on the brink of disaster when Evans entered with one out and Little Rock leading 3-1 in the second inning Monday. LSU’s previous six pitchers going back to a 10-4 loss to Little Rock on Sunday had given up 13 earned runs on 11 hits and 13 walks.
Someone had to break the trend.
And in strode Evans of St. Pius X High in Houston, having last pitched on May 16 at South Carolina when he allowed one hit in an inning and a third of relaxed relief over 27 pitches in LSU’s 8-1 win. The most pitches he had thrown all season was 93 on May 4 in a sub-par, three-and-a-third-inning no-decision start at Texas A&M when he allowed three hits and three walks.
A week later, he made a worse start, allowing season highs of seven hits, three walks and four runs in three and two-thirds innings in his only loss of the season – 7-4 to Arkansas.
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LSU coach Jay Johnson and pitching coach Nate Yeskie had been resting Evans up until the Regional because of his increasing work load and the drop in performance in those two starts, which included just six strikeouts combined.
And on Monday night, Evans looked like a new man possessed. Right off, he allowed an RBI ground out and an RBI single charged to starter Zac Cowan for a 5-1 deficit. But then he got a force-out grounder and struck out Cade Martin to end the inning.
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Evans struck out one of the hottest hitters in college baseball – Angel Cano – in the third in a one-two-three inning, and suddenly LSU’s crowd was coming to life after early trepidation, though still trailing 5-1.
“When he comes in and minimizes the damage and competes out there from the start, especially as a freshman in a postseason game, it’s huge,” junior designated hitter Ethan Frey said. “He gave our offense a chance. Being a teammate seeing that, I want to push harder.”
Especially after seeing so many LSU relievers struggle in similar roles.
And the very next half inning, LSU closed to within 5-4 in the top of the fourth on Frey’s three-run double.
Evans gave up a single to open the bottom of the fourth. But he was now warm, and he struck out the last two of the inning. Then three straight strikeouts in the fifth. After LSU tied it 6-6 on Luis Hernandez’ home run in the top of the sixth, Evans struck out three in a row in the bottom of the sixth, including Cano looking.
“He was nasty,” said Cano, who won the Most Outstanding Player award for the Regional after going 10-for-19 (.526) in his last four games with three home runs, three doubles and 15 RBIs. “He was spinning it really good. Throwing me some fastballs there that made me think about it a little bit. Got me.”
Still motivated by Evans, Frey doubled and later scored on a Steven Milam ground-out RBI to put LSU up 6-5 in the seventh. It was the Tigers’ first lead since Frey’s home run put it up 1-0 in the first.
“He completely changed the game for us. It was unreal. Couldn’t be more proud of him – watching him come a long way and competing the entire time,” Frey said.
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“I’ve seen it before where a pitcher comes in and changes the tempo of the game,” Johnson said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night. “I don’t know if I’ve seen it in a game of that magnitude. He struck out nine in a row. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. And the intensity, the aggressiveness, the confidence, really the enthusiasm that he was pitching with – it lifted everybody. It lifted the fans, and the fans really lifted the team when we needed it and stayed with us after we left some guys on early in the game.”
In the Little Rock seventh, Evans struck out Alex Sequine, whose two-run single in the second had put the Trojans up 3-1 and brought on Evans. After a ground out, Evans walked the bases loaded. But Johnson and Yeskie stuck with him. And he struck out Cooper Chaplain to end the inning.
Now at 102 pitches and tiring, Evans went back out in the eighth. He gave up back-to-back singles to start the eighth, but got a force out at third on a bunt. When Anthony Eyanson came on to relieve, Evans got the type of ovation from the Alex Box crowd usually reserved for walk-off home runs.
He walked off with seasons highs for strikeouts at 12 – twice his previous high – and pitches at 109.
“This dude is a superstar,” Johnson said after the game. “And you guys have been around a lot longer than I have, but there haven’t been very many better performances on that pitching mound in championship games than what you saw from Casan.”
Former LSU coach Skip Bertman, who would know, agreed.
“Casan Evans DELIVERED with an unbelievable nine strikeouts in a row,” Bertman said during taping Wednesday of his On Base With Skip Bertman podcast at Tiger Rag. “And of course delivered the rest of his game.”
Evans in just six innings finished only four strikeouts short of the 16 freshman right-hander Brett Laxton had to beat Wichita State, 8-0, in nine innings in the 1993 national championship game – Bertman’s second title of five from 1991-2000. Laxton set the record for most strikeouts in a national championship game that day.
“The game that Casan Evans pitched reminded me of a great game by Mike Sirotka against Long Beach State,” Bertman said.
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That was also in 1993 as Sirotka struck out eight around nine hits, but he allowed only two earned runs in a 6-5 win in an elimination game to put the Tigers in the championship game.
“And, of course, it reminded me of Brett Laxton’s 16 strikeouts in the final game,” Bertman said. “I think Casan’s got a great future and will be a high draft pick. I think he’ll be the No. 3 starter in the Super Regional if Jay doesn’t have to use him game one or two (in relief).”
That will likely be Johnson’s plan with Eyanson (10-2, 2.50 ERA, 2 saves) likely starting Saturday’s opener, followed by left-hander Kade Anderson (9-1, 3.28 ERA) on Sunday.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Johnson said. “The nature of the competition right now in playoff baseball is one at a time, kind of all hands on deck.”
And whenever Johnson may need nine straight strikeouts, he may call on No. 20.
“I can remember back in high school when I struck out nine in a row,” Evans said. “But other than that, I haven’t done it. So, tonight was really special. I mean, hands down one of the best performances I’ve had. I couldn’t be more thankful for coach Johnson trusting me in the situation when were down. He threw me in with runners on. I was just going to go right at them.”
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